Hand peanut sheller



lDeca 18 1923.

J. T. HUSTON HAND PEANUT SHELLER Filed May 16 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 1s 1923.

HUSTQN HAND PEA-NUT SHELLER 2 Sheets-Shea?, Z

`Filed May 16A, ,1919 v JWM/@imm Patented Dec. l,

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HAND PEANUT SHELLEB.

Application filed May 1G, 1919.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN 'l'. lostron, a citizen of the United States of Americar` residing at Columbus, in the county of Muscogee and State o't Georgia, have 'invented certain new and useful Improvements in lland Peanut Shellers, ot' which the following 'is a specitication.

My invention relates to a machine 'for shelling peanuts and the like, which is characterized by the provision of a rotating element, suitable to be turned by hand, which is adapted to carry with it the .body ot nuts under treatment so as to more them rapidly over the grid or grate having a surface adapted to grind or abrade the shells of the peanuts to weaken them so that they will open and the kernels will be released by friction on the rubbing' o'l the nuts together rather than by a crushing' or breakinnr ot the Whole shells between the rotor and stator as is the general practice.

It is my purpose more particularly to produce a hand peanut sheller which is quite simple in its structure, readily' assembled and repairedI` and which is capable of operating efficiently and With large capacity to shell peanuts ol different varieties with a minimum breakage ot the kernels.

One feature of my invention relates to a novel type of slotted grate or grid which can be formed by stamping' from sheet metal, though it may be otherwise produce h and which is characterized by the provision ot transverse slots between alternately raised and depressed strips ot metal or bars which produce a rough or grinding' surface over which the rotating element or the Sheller drives the nuts.

A further object of my .vention is to simplify the construction and reduce the cost ot' the rotating' element 'which comprises rerersely tapered cones having; radial ribs which are secured together at their meeting faces and Which are provided with integral cast bearing' trunnions. The rotor element is similar to that claimed in a comjanion application tiled of even date herewith, Serial No. 297,6()8.

A further object of my invention is to sini- Sorial No. 297,6'09.

plit'y the means -for regulating the feed of peanuts into the grinding portion ot the inachine so that the grinding pressure on the nuts. the quantity ot' output and the load on the machine may all be suitably regulated in a very simple manner to obtain the best operatingresults.

A further object is to provide a Ine-ans 'for attaching the grid or s) that it can be readily removed and a dii nt one replaced in adapting the machine for handling difliercnt varieties and sizes of peanuts.

A CJtill further object is the provision of means for securing' the mael'iine in position on the edge ot receptacle adapted to receive the discharge therefrom.

lfly invention also comprises the Yvarious novel details of construction and arrangements or parts, which in their preferred embodiment only are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which 'form a part oi" this specification, and in which Fig. l. is an elevational View of the improved machine secured on the Wall of a receptacle for receiving the discharge therefrom.

F 2 is a vertical sectional View theretl rough on the line Q-2 showin@ one rotor disk in front elevation.

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the machine,

Fig'. t is a horizontal sectional riew there through on the line 1l-l of F l.

Fig. 5 is a View partly in section and partly in elevation of an enlarged type of shell-er with a moditied arrangement of rotor.

llligr. (3 is a detail View in trent elevation of the bearing' plate showing one clamp in operating position Similar reference numerals refer to sirnilar parts throughout the drawings.

l have illustrated my invention as embodied in a hand operated peanut sheller comprising a hopper body termed of side Walls l0 and end Walls ll suitably connected at their meeting' edges. The side Walls l0 have a semi-circular bottom end 12 which extends belowv the plane of the bottom edges of the end walls ll. A metallic grate or grrid 13 is drawn snugly against the peripheries of the Vzo .plate and projecting into semi-circular bottom extensions 12 and has its ends disposed in countersunk seats in the inside faces of the end walls 11 and held between said wall 11 and the adjacent edges of th-e side walls 10. One end of the grate is detachably secured to one end wall 11 by a bolt 1li passing through the wall and through an opening 15 in the plate, while the other end of the plate is detachahly secured to the other end wall by a feed regulating screw 16 passed through an opening 17 in the the hopper body substantially centrally' and transversely thereof. The feed regulating screw 1G is thr-eaded in a bearing plate 18 secured to the outer face of the end wall 11.

The grate 13, in its preferred embodiment, is formed by a metal plate having slots or transverse apertures 19 therein Afor the discharge from the shelling concave of the kernels and fractured hulls, the slots being preferably arranged in two circrunferential series. rlhe slots of each series are elongated transversely of the grate and stop short of the ends and the middle web thereof. rThe strips or bars between the adjacent apertures of each series are disposed alternately in different planes by either or both being bent or displaced from the plane of the plate and they thus present an irregular grinding or grating surface over which the body of nuts under treatmentare driven by the instrumentalit-ies hereinafter described. rlhe raised bars are indicated at 2O and the interposed lower or depressed bars at 21. T his rough grating or abrading surface of the plate 13 may be obtained by other deformations of its workinosurface and the a a b plate itself is detachably secured so that it.

can be readily removed and al plate having apertures of a different size substituted so as to adapt the machine for differentgrades and sizes of hulls in the stock t0 be shelled.

The rotor or cylinder for driving the pea.- nuts over the grate and causing a frictional abrasion of their shells which will cause them to open and free the kernels, comprises in the machine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4t two frusto-conical disks having flat central plane surfaces 22 and annular marginal inclined surfaces 23 provided with radially arranged spaced ribs 21 which disappear at the outer edge of the surface 23. T he surfaces are provided with interlocking annular flanges and 2G which center the assembled disks and bring the shaft portions cast integral with each disk into axial alignment. One disk of each pair is cast with a shaft member 27 which is reduced to form a stop shoulder 28 which turns against the inner surface of a side wall 10. The reduced end 29 of this shaft passes through a hole. 30 in a side wall 10 and turns in a bearing plate 31 attached to the outer face of said side wall. The other disk is cast extension 34 having a. screw 35 cast in its Y outer end. A socket in the crank 36 will fit on the squared extension 3ft and be held in place by a nut engaged with the screw 35. The bearing plate 33 is provided with lateral wings 37 on each side which terminute approximately half way between the shaft center and the end walls of the casing in upturned extensions 38. These extensions 38 at their upper ends are provided with notches 39 which receive upper tips d() on a pair of U-shaped clamp brackets 11. These brackets at an intermediate point a2 are enlarged and provided with a hole through which a bolt 43 passes and receives a wing nut del which engages the cla-mp bracket and forces the latter at its upper end against the. extension 38 and at its lower end against the side wall of the box or container l5, (see Fig. 1) the inner face of which is engaged by the adjacent side wall 10 of the casing. The heads of the bolts 43 are -co-untersunk in the inner face of the adjacent wall 10.7and they also receive nuts 416, disposed under the clamp brackets, which serve to secure the bearingplatel 37 to the casing. By this arrangement the screw bolts i3 vserve the double function of attaching the bearing plate and holding the clamp.

ln Fig. a. larger capacity sheller is shown which differs from that described in the provision of a single shaft 47 which extends through the casing having its inner reduced end mounted in the bearing plate 3l and its Y outer end provided with a squared extension 48 for the reception of the crank. On the shaft between the walls 10 l mount four frusto-conical disks, the two outer disks having their concave faces turning adjacent to the wallsV 10 and made fast on the shaft by set screws 49. The two intermediate disks have their concave faces opposite and I thus provide two circumferential il-shaped channels in the rotor, in which channels are provided radial ribs 50. The 'construction and arrangement of these disks is not herein claimed as such forms the particular subject matter of my pending application Serial No. 297,608. Each of these circumferential channels will be disposed opposite a circumferential series of the slots 19 in the concave plate 13.

lVith the machine attached to thesidesiof hopper or container for the shelled product falling through the slots 19, a batch of peanuts is placed in the hopper and the ro-l that the mass of hulls cob V-shaped circumscrlbmg tor is turned so lected in the Laarne-1e grooves or channels in the rotor are caused to turn with the rotor and are driven rapidly across the roughened, abrading surface of the concave whicliwill cause the rapid frictional disintegration ofthe hulls and cause them to open and release the kernels which will fail through the concave slots 19 into the box or container 45. is shown more clearly in Fig. 3, the feed screw 16 projects into the triangular feed opening of the concave defined by the end portion of the adjacent wall il and the rotor disks and may be extended or retracted to vary the amount of hulls permitted to pass `therethrough with a given speed of the rotor. Thus the degree of congestion Within the grinding space may be varied, to consequently vary the pressure on the hulls, whereby a suflicient pressure may be procured to obtain the rapid frictional liberation of the kernels therefrom, but which will not produce a breakage of said kernels, it being obvious that many conditions may arise when a variation of the feed to procure proper pressure would be necessary, and that this adjustment may be most readily effected in the present machine.

The present embodiment of my invention affords a device which is exceedingly durable in nature and which may be manufactured at a comparatively low cost, the relatively heavy boards 10 and 11 being of wood and forming a strong and rigid body whereby a minimum number of metal parts may be employed. It is however obvious that various changes and modifications of structure may be resorted to without departing in any manner from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A peanut shelling machine including a concave having a. foraminous peripheral wall, a rotor in the concave having a circumferential groove defining a deep annular grinding space which is unrestricted throughout its length, and ribs in the groove to hold and carry with it as it rotates an annular whirl of nuts, lt-he rotor and concave being spaced to prevent any positive crusl ing act-ion between them on the shells, and adjustable means for varying the feed of material to said arcuate space.

2. A peanut. shelling machine including a concave having a foraminous perijiheral wall, a grooved rotor rotatable in the concave and defining in conjunction therewith an unobstructed arcuate shelling space substantially triangular in axial cross-section, means for rotating said rotor, means for feeding peanuts to said shelling space, a screw adapted to project into said shelling space to control the feed of peanuts therethrough, and means on the rotor sufiiciently spaced from the concave toavoid a direct crushing of the shells, which are adapted to carry aroundwith the rotor an annular whirl of nuts.

3. In a peanut shellng machine, the combination with a rotor, of a foraminous plate forming a concave partly surrounding the rotor and provided with transverse slots, the tansverse narrow tongues of metal between the slots being relatively displaced with relation to the rotor to provide a rough internal grinding surface for the concave.

4t. In a peanut shelling machine, a wall for the shelling concave formed of a sheet of metal plate adapted to be bent on a curve and provided with two longitudinal parallel spaced rows of laterally elongated transve-rse slots which are closely associated in each row, and a rotor having a bevelled annular ribbed surface turning in a plane with the rows and in spaced relation thereto.

5. A. peanut shelling machine including a concave having a foraminous peripheral wall, a pair of substantially frusto-conical grinding members rotatable in the concave and defining in conjunction therewith an arcuate grinding space substantially triangular in cross-section, means for rotating said grinding members, means for feeding material to said grinding space, and a feed adjusting member slidably passed through one wall of the concave to adjustably project across one side of the grinding space.

6. A peanut shelling machine including a hopper body formed of side walls and end walls, the lower ends of the side walls being projected below the end wall in substantiallyv semi-circular shape to form the side walls of a shelling concave, a foraminous peripheral wall plate for said concave having its end portions engaged between the end walls and the adjacent edge portion of the side walls, a pair of substantially frustoconical grinding members rotatable in the concave and defining in conjunction therewith an arcuate grinding space substantially triangular in cross-section, means for detachably securing one end of the foraminous plate to one of the end walls, and a feed adjusting screw passed through the other end wall and the other end of the foraminous plate.

7. In a peanut shelling machine, the coinbination f'ith, a rotor, of a foraminous plate forming a concave partly surrounding the rotor and provided with transverse slots arranged in parallel rows tongues of metal which are displaced relatively and alternately to present a roughened grinding surface.

8. In a peanut shelling machine, a wall for the shelling concave formed of a sheet of metal plate adapted to be bent on a curve and provided with two longitudinal parallel spaced rows of laterally elongated transand divided byy verse slots which are closely associated in each row, the alternate tongues o'E metal between said slots being bent inwardly near the center of the tongue to project above the working surface of the plate, as and Jfor the purposes described.

9. ln a peanut shelling machine, a. rotor formed by a pair of concentric dished elements having opposed annular flattened centers provided on their inner faces with in- 10 terlocking centering lugs and on their outer faces with integral trunnions.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN THOMAS HUSION.l

' Witness:

F. L. MCEAGHERN. 

